a discussion will certainly be happening later this week, but right now a lot of continuing coverage of the damage and the storm. jon: stick together, america, we are with you. thank you for joining us. jenna: "america live" starts right now. megyn: fox news alert. brand-new video into fox news showing a dramatic rescue in the badly flooded state of new jersey. welcome to "america live" and our special coverage, everyone, of what could be one of the most devastating weather events in our nation's history. i'm megyn kelly. take a look at this video, this is the town of mo monacke new jersey where a levee has been breached as water came out of the storm drains. a monster storm pummeling the east coast of the united states. 21 different states threatened plus washington d.c. 33 people have now been reported dead, more than 7 million from

the east coast to the great lakes are without power, the devastation is everywhere. first we take you to point pleasant, new jersey, one of the towns hardest hit. a massive tidal surge sending waves of water crashing into homes covering the streets with sand from the beach. look at the pictures. in beckley, west virginia the storm generating blizzard-like conditions. heavy snow and punishing winds cutting electricity. would you look at the difference? just look at pictures. cutting electricity and shutting down nearly 50 miles of interstate. to breezy point queens, the sighsite of an inferno. the driving wind sending flames throughout the neighborhood burning at latest count it's now up to 80 homes, 80 homes. look at this picture. look at this. i mean it's just -- it's tough to find the words. the devastation is so extensive that the area looks like a war

zone. we are going to start off at one of the first towns to get slammed and that is ocean city maryland, steve harrigan streaming live to us from there. steve. >> reporter: we are in chrisfield maryland one of the hardest hit towns, it's right on the bay. we have been watching rescue operations throughout the day. the rain is coming down. floodwater tph-s three to four feet in much of the town and many people trying to get out. yesterday the first responders were working by boat, today they are working by vehicle. we've seen a lot of national guard, sheriff's and fire departments out in humvees. people have been calling them to get them out of their houses. we've seen a number of elderly couples, as well as mothers with young children. they are scared, they are cold, they don't have electricity, and they are asking for help. we've seen them carried out really by hand, by these firefighters, many of whom have been working the past 24 hours. one fire tkhaoef told me we ar chief told me we are not getting

paid for this but it's a privilege to serve. we have seen them break up the towns in grids going door to door banging on doors and pulling out people who need help, some of the people waiting for the last 24 hours. 300,000 people in maryland without electric power, it's cold and rainy and another tough day ahead, megyn back to you. jenna: steve thank you. one of the big stories of course the power outages, as you can see the outages from the monster storm stretch all the way from north carolina up to main and michigan. the states in the red have more than a million people in the dark. we are told nearly one in every six people in new york, new jersey and pa are all in the same boapennsylvania are all in the same boat, with 18% of the entire state of connecticut and so far they are not making projections on when the power is likely to go back on. they are reinforcing the message that this is unprecedented in this area, coned has never had to handle this many power out

hostages. if you lived away from the coast it did not mean you were out of harm's way. in west virginia the super storm triggering a blizzard burr ring parts of the state under more than a foot of snow, shutting down major roads and power to nearly $250,000 and being blamed for at least one deadly car crash. blizzard warnings remain in effect for more than a dozen counties and president obama has approved an emergency declaration for that state. fox news alert on new video we just received. the helicopters went up over atlantic city new jersey in just the last few minutes. these are our first aerials of the damage in new jersey. while conditions are improving a bit in the coastal northeast as the storm moves inland, we've showed you what is about to happen in chicago this thing is by no means over. the storm still packaging a punch as it lingers over the region. combinations of high winds, rain and snow are stretching from vermont to the carolinas.

the storm's effect reaches as far away as illinois where rough surf is happening on lake michigan. the monster storm is forcing both presidential candidates to suspend their respective campaign schedules. who raoeps the benefits o reaps the benefits that of? it's a presidential election a week away. there are millions of americans who are very interested in what is going to happen next tuesday and who are paying attention to that huge story. we are going to talk about how this storm is impacting this race right after the break when chris stirewalt joins us. and as pictures of the damage continue pouring in we are getting some unfortunate updates on the loss of life. as we go to break a look at some of the most incredible photographs of sandy's destruction. begin.

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megyn: more now on the dramatic rescue video coming in as a levee breaks in northern, new jersey leaving hundreds of people with little time toee evacuate way the entire town of moonake is reportedly underwater. crews rushing in to rescue people from their homes today. emergency workers make sure small children and the elderly received assistance. you can see some of that here. it's incredible too, some of the sound bytes from this folks. this woman here says you do what you've got to do. she says i feel sorry for the holder people and the baby but i'm fine.

it's incredible the attitudes, great. the evacuees were taken from their homes by boat to higher ground. the police sergeant said water in the town rose to five feet within 45 minutes making the roads inch impassible. the floodwaters knocked out the police and fire departments flooding them and forcing them to relocate to a business in a neighboring community. fortunately, amazingly no injuries reported. fox news alert, president obama crans link a third straight day of campaigning due to the devastating storm. the white house saying the president will not attend events scheduled for tomorrow in ohio, a key battleground state as you know. instead we are told that mr. obama will remain in washington to monster the storm and the federal response. the president will get help from one of his big surrogates, former president bill clinton campaigning for the democratic ticket in colorado today. governor romney adjusting his schedule as well.

canceling rallies in ohio and iowa. the governor is in ohio and helps to collect donations for storm relief. we are told he may visit storm-ravaged new jersey later this web. his running mate paul ryan also scrapping rallies in florida and colorado. the congressman, mr. ryan in his home state of wisconsin today thanking volunteers for helping out in storm relief efforts. with the campaigns on hold just seven days out from the election who benefits and who does not? chris stirewalt the fox news digital politics editor and host of power play on fox news.com. mother nature hit the pause button on this race, you know, eight days out from the presidential election, chris, and, you know, at some point this week the thumb will be taken off the pause button, and where are we then? >> exactly. perfectly put, because by the time we get to thursday things will be back in full swing. you know what thursday is, thursday is into the hot zone of

the election where you're so close to the vote that there is really not much time that people have, that candidates have to change the trajectory of the race and there isn't time for big concepts or big ideas to sink in and you're just down in that final scramble. so what hurricane sandy has done is taken away these days that both campaigns were planning to use to try to reinforce, or change the trajectory of the race, in romney's case reinforce the trajectory of the race, in president obama's to try to change it to get out from underneath romney. megyn: before we -- before mother nature hit that pause button we had a campaign in which governor romney had the momentum and the polls were going in this is favor. we had a president with an incredible get out the vote ground game in the critical swing states, and the advantages of incumbencyment s. how, if at all did those two narratives change given

hurricane sandy in. >> for the president, any day in which his supporters can't be got even to the polls for early voting in ohio and in virginia is bad, because they need every second that they can to try to get out their vote. he's working on a democratic base election. he's trying to win on the basis of maximizing, getting all the toothpaste out of the tube that he possibly can among democrats, where as what romney is trying to do is ride a wave here and get independents and get others, moderates to come to his side and join an already solid and already energized republican basement for the president every minute that he can't be running vans and sending people door to door to try to squeeze that toothpaste tube is a moment that he needs, and so the concern for democrats -- every projection or prediction they've had all along is they would be able to pull out a narrow victory based on heavy, heavy turn out efforts. they cannot like losing these days. megyn: there is no way that the president can be out on the

campaign trail now especially after the criticism he took for going to las vegas after our ambassador and three others were murdered in libya. he cannot do that as a practical matter. he's in the oval office and doing what he needs to do as the president when the nation is hit with a natural disaster as we have been. does that affect people? i mean in an election like this where we've been looking at so many huge issues, 23 million people under employed or unemployed and which man has the better plan to help them, do people get moved with something like this in the days moving up to the election. >> certainly democrats are hoping that seeing the president looking like the commander and chief and doing those things and dealing with emergency situations as you point out, doing what we didn't see after benghazi, doing that and coming out and flexing the muscle that certainly helps reinforce his image, but here is the bigger deal. for democrats, the trajectory is set. what they are working on is how do you get your folks out?

how do you get them there? he's sending his sur gather out but nothing moves them as much as seeing the president himself on the ground and saying, look, i'm begging you, i need you to go do this. romney isn't as encumbered by that as much. he has to be careful to strike the right tone. he can be in the battleground states, in those places and say i'm with you, i'm rallying with you, we have to be cool right now but come thursday they will own back to full-blown campaigning. megyn: the president's team has been very positive in their language. axelrod the president's senior adviser saying, look, make no mistake about it, we are winning, anything you hear to the contrary from the other side are bluster. how are americans supposed to process that? how do you know you're winning when we haven't had the election yet? they have early voting that they can look to. we don't have the results of the early voting but we know party registration, right? >> we know party repblg strays, we also know what gallup found out today that the president's

advantage in early voting has been wiped out, that the democrats talk a lot about specific and anecdotal instances on early voting but the president is not anywhere near where he was on early voting before. here is what we know. after this pause it's not really a pause, it's just that the coverage has shifted away to the hurricane. after the pause we'll pick back up and start to get reliable polling and thursday on friday and one of through things would have happen, either romney's momentum will have continued and perhaps accelerated or it will have died and the president will be on his trajectory to sort of drift across the finish line with just enough forward momentum to carry the narrow victory procee projected. we won't know until thursday and friday. in baston and chicago they can wait and be nervous and find out where the heck people will be 72 hours from now. megyn: there is a question of will we really will know. some of these polling outfits like gull open have suspended their daily tracking polling in the wake of sandy.

how reliable are the numbers we're get to get at the end *ft week, chris? >> they are going to be reliable but only after a few days. we are going to have this big interruption right in the middle where you can't pay attention to the polls too much because they are screwy. by the end of the week we'll know. you want to talk about an exciting cliffhanger when it comes to politics, to have this black out period for the hurricane and then it picks back up, wowie. megyn: we might get to the point where we don't get the pollsters to tell us how we feel we may have to look at the candidates and make up our own minds. >> let's not get crazy. megyn: all right, chris, thank you, sir. >> you bet. megyn: fox news alert now. we are getting our first look at an untold part of the storm story so far, the devastation throughout the state of connecticut. roughly 600,000 people are without power there now. that number has gone up since this morning and fox's own molly line is live in milford, connecticut with more. molly. >> milford is one of the hardest

hit communities in all of connecticut. there are about 50 trees that came down into homes. we are looking at the bridge between milford and west haven, just across the bridge a huge storm surge covered the entire bridge with debris. they shut down the roads and show how difficult it is to get around in the communities feeling this impact. the storm surge pushed all this sand up on the beach. the homes on the other side here all still boarded up. a lot of damage and debris, a lot of difficulty. it's like a big mace to ge maze to get around in the community. a lot of trees came down. it was scary for the people that lived on the seaside by the beaches. one woman who survived the storm last night, you were a few houses away from the beach what was it like last night? >> it was absolutely terrifying. the sound of the wind with the water it was terrifying. you didn't know if your house was going to cave in or not. >> you're one of the homes hit by a tree? >> yes we had half of a tree come down and hit our roof and

take down all of our gutters. just the sound of the tree crashing on the house is terrifying. >> what is it like today? i think you have a lot of anxiety about that. >> assessing the damage, seeing what is going on. even our beach, the debris that is around and the cleanup. we happen to be one of the people very lucky. there is so much devastation that is out there, and it's just very sad to see. >> you said your home is several hundred years old. >> yes, our home was built in the 1 1800s. thank the lord we have minimal damage. we didn't go tout to sea which is good. >> the home that is a hundred years old will live to see its next storm. this is one of the homeowners that survived the storm last night. others suffered more damage, homes have been crushed by trees. we've been driving all over the street and have seen a lot of devastation. we got a chance to speak with the crews that are in charge of

cleaning up the trees. from arkansas, ontario, they've driven in from all over the place to try to get this under control. hundreds of millions of people without power, there is a lot of work left to do in connecticut. megyn: brand-new reports on the extensive destruction along the jersey shore, did you hear the governor in his latest press conference? look at this. the ocean swallowing up parts of atlantic city. and next we will be joined by new jersey congressman chris smith who will take us there live, the roller coaster is in the ocean. and the very latest on an area that suffered some of the most breathtaking damage, new details on the inferno that burned, again we've just received an updated number, at least 80 homes in a flooded part of queens, new york. stay with us. >> the storm brought something like 23 serious fires to parts of staten island, brooklyn, queens, as well as city island in the bronx, and the terrible fire own breezy point is now

under control but we believe we lost more than 80 houses. and the search and recovery operations there are on going. questions?

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megyn: fox news alert. you are looking at dramatic rescues underway. take a look at the scene. right now in the city of chris field, maryland. these poor folks, in trouble. i mean so many folks, they didn't expect the water to come in as quickly as it did and found themselves tph-s harm's way. governor martin o'malley says there are some 50 to 60 people having to be rescued after a storm surge rushed into the first floor of that you are building. he added the levels of some of the floods were soy bad that rescue humvees were being

stranded, just given the depth of the water. a tip of the hat to the first responders who go out there and help the folks. the monster storm slowly moving in on the midwest after leaving a trail of destruction in the northeast. the surf getting rough on lake michigan. take a look at it there. look for yourselves. by rough, look what the cameras captured about 20 minutes ago, waves reaching near record heights. chicago is bracing for high winds and crashing waves as the storm approaches. reporting live is joni lum from our fox affiliate. >> reporter: i'm trying to stay out of it, that's for sure. it's getting closer and closer. we are in indiana on the southern part of lake michigan where super storm sandy, it has a literal meaning because the beaches and the dunes located here, the stand is picking up and it's just slicing through the wind. take a look at the water as well, it's really churned up, and the trained eye tells me

that those are 20 to 30-foot waves here on the southern end of lake michigan. they call for rip tide warnings when there are two-foot waives. we are stalking about waves that are three stories tall. you can see the chicago skylight in the background. in the foreground we have charter school of the downs which canceled classes for the elementary and high school students because of all the sand whipping around. that school sits at the shore of the lake where the waves are growing taller and crashing. further inland the wind is going through construction barrels, knocking down shingles. there is a high wind warning for lake and porter county and cook county in illinois. there are scattered power outages in the area. so far no moisture associated with the wind but there is potential for flooding. a lot of people who have come out to try to take photographs of the lake while it's all churned up and full of energy, a lot of the park is closed for safety reasons. now back to you, megyn. megyn: thank you. good job staying out of lake

michigan. it's not a place you want to be in at the moment. we appreciate your good reporting. it's especially windy today in the windy city although they say it's called that because of the politicians not because of the actual weather history. our meteorologist janice dean warned us yesterday that even as the storm moved inland it would still pose a real threat. she is live in the fox weather center. we had a conversation this morning about how irritating it is when the weather people want to make the story all about them and their accurate predictions. i know you don't want to do that. i do want to say for the record, right again, take us live together to where we are now. >> thanks to the national weather service and national hurricane service working around the:00. us as forecasters bring you the message and we hoped that people listened is the main thing. we've been talking about the northeast and obviously that's been the big story this thing is stretching as far west as the midwest, the great lakes as we saw a reporter out there. we could see wind gusts in excess of 60, 70 miles per hour

and that is why we're seeing waves of 20 to 30 feet. another thing that we haven't really talked about is the snow. but look at those waves. it's amazing that we were dealing with a storm all along the northeast coastline and now we are moving into the midwest where they are going to feel a punch and cold temperatures, i mean this is arctic air that has interacted with the storm and kind of gave it that punch. i also want to show you the latest wind gusts that we've got even from hurricane sandy, now extra tropical. 94-mile per hour gusts across portions of long island, plumb island 85 miles per hour, that gives you an idea, jfk71 miles per hour. certainly hurricane-force winds for a lot of folks across the northeast and the snow totals, amazing over two feet in parts of maryland and west virginia. tennessee, kentucky and pennsylvania vein yeah that is going to continue overt next couple of days.

the low will kick into canada but because it's so broad in its scope it will affect a lot of folks. the snow will kind of linger around the spine of the appalachians until thursday, friday. i'm sure the ski slopes are happy. maybe that is the one good point. megyn: there is some silver linings to a storm like this. we saw the goodness of people, the first responders that go out and neighbors that help folks. and it has a way of bringing people together, including the two people you see on your screen right now. janice and i doubled up in a hotel last night because they were scarce and few and far between. we had a little girl's sleep over. >> god bless our husbands who are home with our kids. we haven't seen our kids for days because we want to make sure the people head the warnings. i love you megyn kelly, you're the best roommate a girl could ever have. megyn: jd, right back automatic. you should have seen the two of us this morning with our coffee and the queen sized bed.

>> snuggling. megyn: see you, hon. >> okay. megyn: we talk about that. obviously we left our husbands, we left our kids because we want to be here to bring you the news, so that you and your families and your kids can stay safe and know about the very latest and we appreciate you tuning into fox news channel and trusting us with that responsibility, which we all take very serious, that applies to the crew and all the staff at knocks news channel. a popular seaside attraction that may be no more. just ahead look at this. the story on a famous roller coaster that may have taken its last loop. the devastation in seaside heights, new jersey. we have this a construction crane hanging perilously over the new york city streets blocks away from the studio right here, these are live pictures. this thing they had to evacuate the buildings next door, close off some of the streets, and now there are a lot of folks here wondering when they are going to be able to move back into their homes as there is no end in sight to this dangerous situation. plus, new information on a ship

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35 people now reported dead. new york city especially hard hit. the country's largest mass transit system at a standstill with waters pouring into the subways. in who boning, new jersey waves of water rushed into a train station through elevator doors. in new york water filled the brooklyn battery tunnel. this tunnel has a clearance of 13 feet. can you imagine any car or person would be completely submerged in that tunnel. a live look at a badly damaged crane hanging precariously from a skyscraper near central park. this is as it fell. watch this. can you imagine? i mean, thank god it didn't go all the way. this is how it happened.

stunning video showing blistering winds from sandy breaking the wind like a stoot pick. the neighboring buildings had to be evacuated and the street closed off. the mayor saying it won't be fixed until they get another crane put up next to it. then in long island we find downthan hunt live in -- where we find jonathan hunt live in long beach. >> reporter: the devastation became clear to the residents. the few who refused to evacuate. these cars literally swept away by a 5-foot wall of water. you see the large white and gray building ahead of you? that's our hotel. that's where the ocean is. swing back this way and quarter mile up that way is the bay side of this barrier island.

in the middle the two bodies of water met last night with a huge storm surge. it has done untold damage to so many homes here. literally thousands upon thousands of homes affected. this is the home of gino and vinny. we are not going to bother them, they have so much work to do. but they had the good sense to put their cars up on a couple blocks. but i'm not sure it did any good water was so high. scene after scene after scene. people suffering so badly. we are told that the long island power authority has a total of 1.1 million customers. right now they tell us 938,000 of that 1.1 million are without

power. we are also told it's likely to be up to 10 days -- perhaps even longer before they get that power back. so this city of long beach on the barrier island is in devastating shape and we are told -- we have virtually no communications here. but we are told there is a similar story across the towns and cities of long island. this is the worst haveth ever seen. it will take weeks and months to recover. megyn: earlier today governor chris christie calling the devastation on the jersey coast unthinkable. parts of the seaside park are now in the ocean. we saw still photography showing the rollercoaster literally in the middle of the ocean. there are new reports that the ride has been entirely swept

away by the storm surge. listen to the governor earlier. >> the pier at seaside park is essentially half washed out. the rollercoaster is now in the ocean. the second pier, the more southerly pier is significantly damaged and some of those amusements are now in the ocean. megyn: 2 million people remain without electricity in new jersey. the first priority is helping people still at risk. joining us is new jersey congressman chris smith who represents people living along the hard-hit jersey shore. you are touring with the governor to see the devastation. can you give us a feel for what you have seen and heard so far? >> the governor just left delmar. it has been devastated. i was in point pleasant earlier today. water is everywhere.

boats on on the road. everything -- i'm alive and i'll keep persevering. knocked down just hurricane sandy has been absolutely devastating. i have been a congressman for 32 years and i have never seen anything like it. but they are ready to rebuild and come back again. megyn: the pictures we are look at are deeply disturbing with houses completely demolished. this is atlantic city. this is new video which is deeply disturbing. can you give us a feel for the devastation to atlantic city and the surrounding area? >> atlantic city is south of my district but i know it's under water. the governor did admonish people to get pout because we knew this hurricane was going to surpass

all previous records. in point pleasant and up the coast in the bayshore area the devastation has been unthinkable. the loss of property, the loss of people's homes, and now with the winter just around the corner, the building effort has to be even more robust than ever so people can be back in their homes. just about everybody i know, including my own home, is without power. that is like a given in new jersey. if you live here you probably don't have power. but if you are anywhere near the shore this is devastation city. megyn: you mention the jersey shore. coastal new jersey has been the hard yoaft hit. for the folks watching this, put out of your mind the jersey shore cities one of the most beautiful places in the country. it's absolutely pristine and the breaches gorgeous and the people are lovely and the houses are modest and other places look

more opulent it's a great beach community that a lot of us in the northeast grew up going to. the pier at seaside heights, yours truly has memories as a 13-year-old girl going out on the rollercoaster, having fun on the board walk. to hear that the rollercoaster and log fume are now in the ocean. can this be rebuilt? >> yes, it can. as i have gone from town to town, people are resilient. we do need to provide the local help, the federal help. it's a once in a lifetime storm. but the first responders. i can't say enough about them. they have been out all night. no sleep, making sure people who

might be in harm's way are out of harm's way. this has been people pulling together in a unified way. it's just the best of america and the best of new jersey. megyn: that's the thing about these storms. the government helps some but individuals help a lot. >> right now i'm five feet, 10 feet away from a downed power line. that's something we need to admonish people to stay away from any power line down on the ground because it could be hot. megyn: that's a good point. >> watch out for fast-moving water. it can take you away. megyn: congressman chris smith, thanks for being with us and all the best to you in your jurisdiction. we apologize the cell phone service is spotty throughout the northeast in the wake of the storm. he was mostly understandable for

most of that conversation and we appreciate you bearing with us on that. one of the country's top pollsters finds himself at the top of another story. scott rasmussen tells us what hurricane sandy has done to his polling and not mention his house. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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megyn: new developments on the sunken hms bounty. crew members saying they knew they were setting out on a dangerous journey. they abon and the ship after it started take on water in the hurricane. sadly one person was killed and the captain is still missing. trace gallagher is with us from l.a. yesterday we had on the coast guard and they rescued 14 of the 16, and were still holding out hope for the other two. >> reporter: that captain has now been missing for the better part of 36 hours.

would you we know he knew what he was setting sail into. he made a calculated designatures was safer to be out at sea than it was in ports. this ship left connecticut thursday afternoon. two days into this they started getting rough seas and the captain began posting things on the ship's facebook page saying i think we'll be in this for several days. we are just going to keep trying to go fast and squeeze by the storm and land as fast as we can. the coast guard then echoed that saying he believes the captain was trying to steer around the storm but late sung day night like a page out of the book the perfect storm the winds picked up. the waves began to tower and the bounty began take on water. by monday morning the crew abandoned ship. but as they were abandoning ship you can see the ship rolled over to its right and a lot of the

crew were tossed into the water. many tossed in. the crew members, one of them texted this. the ship sank beneath us but we swam free and mostly gone it to two rafts. by the time the coast guard arrived the only thing visible of the bounty was the tip of the mast. the coast guard sits was a tricky rescue. listen. >> there is 35-45 knot winds and 15-20-foot says. holding the hover over the surface of the water changing then 15 feet every 10 seconds is incredible difficulty. we just lucky we have the best pilots out tha there that perform these missions. >> reporter: they showed their stuff. a 42-year-old crew member, a

female was found unresponsive. the captain has now been at sea for 36 hours. he was wearing a life safety suit. feasibly he still could be alive. the coast guard is still out there searching. we know the bounty was built back in the early 60s for moste "mutiny on the bounty" and it has been seen in a number of hollywood films including "the pirates of the caribbean" but the captain remains missing at this hour. megyn: the unprecedented storm shutting down portions of two nuclear power plants. we have new safety concerns in that regard. stay with us.

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megyn: some updated numbers on hurricane sandy. the death toll has risen to 35 people. many killed by falling trees. 8.2 million people are without power in 17 states and washington, d.c. that's up from 7 million. authorities in portland, maine have been force nod close the airport as gusts are reaching 60 miles an hour. air travel will be disrupted in this country for days. janice dean standing by with more. >> reporter: the scope of the storm and the evolution the last 48 hours. it's hard to believe it was 48 hours ago when we started to pay attention to the storm. it was a hurricane until landfall at 8:00 where it made that transition into an

extra-tropical system. then watch it explode as it moves across land. a typical tropical system will lose its strengths once it loses its power source, which is the warm ocean waters. but as it moves across land because it gets pulled with that arctic air, it explodes. that's why we are dealing with the potential for power outages up across maine, the mist, and the ohio river valley. this system will effect millions of people over the next few days. wind gusts in excess of 30-40, 50 miles an hour. the low moving into canada but we'll see the effects of wind gusts well into thursday and friday, especially along the appalachians where we have blizzard advisories.

what was hurricane sandy moving up toward canada and seeing lingering rain and wind well into thursday and entry day. until the weekend we are still going to be watching what was hurricane sandy. winter storm advisories, blizzard advisories for west virginia and kentucky. we could see 3 feet of snow for these areas. this is a wide impacting storm not only rain and wind, but blizzard warnings and snow. plenty of it. megyn: floods, fires and blizzards blanketing the eastern coast of the country and beyond. we could be witnessing one of the biggest storms in american history. sandy's big impact across the eastern part of the country and ongoing weather threats in 21 states including washington, d.c. one of america's biggest airports now a ghost town.

the travel headaches expected for thousands of folks in the days ahead. >> i was terrified. i'm usually not afraid of storms but this one scared me. our whole house on the upstairs shook. we left our closet doors opened.

megyn: new fallout from floods, fires and blizzards spawned by sandy and this superstorm is not over yet. welcome, everyone, i'm megyn kelly. we are getting updates every hour of the devastation. take a look at the video and damage reports from the jersey shore. big parts of some areas were completely washed away according to governor christie. in new york city 80 homes burned to the ground and by the way you can see the snow. in new york city 80 homes burned to the ground in a small

beachfront community of breezy point. we hope to have updated information there in moments. and to the west, snow. sandy's high winds creating near whiteout conditions in some places. we'll start where the storm made landfall at the jersey shore appoint pleasant beach. though today you can't tell where the beach end and the neighborhood begins. here is how things looked yesterday while we were speaking to rick leventhal. describe the winds and the sea as you experienced this morning. >> i'm not getting anywhere near those waves. they are very, very, very dangerous. but the wind -- i'm not making this up, it's throwing me around out here. this is about the strongest i have experienced in a couple years. i don't believe the gauge but it does read 95.4 as the top gust

it's kick up pretty good, megyn. megyn: it's tough to believe your eyes again. rick leventhal live in point pleasant beach. >> right before that reading i had a 57.7. i don't believe that 95-mile-an-hour reading. the meter broke right after that. but last night we had wind speeds over 80 miles an hour. and the water here on ocean avenue was 2-3 feet deep. the current was so strong we saw all sorts of pieces of houses, docks and all kinds of debris washing down these roads. there is a couple vehicles here. look past it. you might be able to see water that's collect on the side street. this is philadelphia avenue and point pleasant beach. you can't reach the damaged homes because the roads are blocked by the sand. we had a front end loader clearing sand off this main

avenue in point pleasant. if you look past it there is 2-3 feet of sand. we want to show you some aeria aerials. the water was 5 feet deep in many parts of that city. they issued many evacuation orders in the atlantic city communities. on the barrier island they told people to get out or risk their lives. many people did not get out and rescues were being made by boat and truck and officials are trying to get in to see how bad the damage is. but many of these communities aren't accessible. emergency crews can't get to where they want to go because of roads completely blocked and virtually impassible because of several feet of sand that washed

in off the beach. we watched it happen last night. a dramatic and frightening scene seeing the waves breach the do you understand and bring the water and sand into the communities. megyn: it looks like you are on the beach. it doesn't look like you are on a road. >> reporter: well, it is the beach. the beach came to us. we were on a third floor balcony watching water breach the dune and wash the sand right into the front of our hotel. it stretches as far as we can see, 3-4 feet deep. megyn: point pleasant being highlighted by governor christie and others. the storms creating nightmares around the world. runways at new york's la guardia

airport under water. this goes way beyond the northeast. 16,000 flights have been canceled because of sandy. even international passengers are experiencing problems with flights canceled as far away as the united kingdom. >> reporter: experts say nothing has been more crippling to america's transportation system since 9/11. 16,000 flights canceled since sunday. but the number is rising. washington, baltimore, airports continue to report cancellations. la guardia, newark, all closed because they are flooding. and they are major international airports. so passengers can't get in or out of asia or europe.

airlines canceled 7,000 flights for tomorrow. experts say passengers are being rebooked on flights one week from today. >> i think we'll be up and running. the problem is there may not any planes in these airports. the airlines removed their planes to protect them from the storm. now they have to be flown back and they have to get crews in place. >> reporter: passengers have to pay their own hotel bill and in new york that's $400 a night. amtrak stopped trains in northeast corridor monday and tuesday stranding 750,000 daily riders. they expect limited runs wednesday. the ports of new jersey and new york, third busiest in the u.s. remain partially closed stranding car go ships offshore. then the subways in new york and new jersey are expected to be shut down for at least a week because of flooding. the brooklyn tunnel you talked

about, that's 12 feet high for people who haven't been there. it has to be pulled out because it can't flow out naturally. in flights alone i think we are look at maybe 3 million passengers not on the planes that they should be. megyn: with election day one week away. there is a presidential election. and the candidates happen to be locked in a dead heat. so that is another big story and we are going to be discussing it. this massive flooding on the east coast is affecting the campaigns. but it's also affecting a top polling company based out of asbury park, new jersey. scott rasmussen sent us these pictures showing the widespread damage in that town. it happens to be his town. he joins us live with more on how his polling company is being affected. everybody is by phone. the phone service even into the

building here sat fox news is spotty in the wake of this storm. tell us what you are seeing in asbury park. >> the storm very powerful. water coming over the boardwalk like the wasn't even there. our chief operating officer had his house flooded out. the first thing we did was check that everybody was okay. hardly anybody has power. but the boardwalk is never going to be the same. the fishing pier in our little town is gone. i don't know what will happen there. one of the pictures shows the auditorium in ocean grove with the roof ripped off. what you notice mostly on a day-to-day basis is power lines are down, trees are down. roads are blocked off. it's a logistical challenge to say the least. megyn: you see the surf threatening the passing traffic. we got news guam has suspended

its daily tracking poll for today in the wake of sandy and the effect it's having. what are you doing? >> we are trying to continue polling as best we can. our call center, the place where we make the survey is not located in new jersey. the calls go out from texas so we are able to call and collect data. we'll be focusing on state polls in western states. they didn't have the same effect. and we are still trying to figure out what we are going to be doing with our national tracking poll. we did release numbers for today obviously portions of the east coast were unreachable last night. and in terms of our company, what the biggest challenge is now, we can collect the today a because the calls are place sod wrestle. we are having trouble access can the data and having more trouble finding ways to post it online. so the next couple days it will

be a wait and see and keep working the problem. megyn: incredible pictures we are putting on the screen. i want to get to the polling news as you know it today. your tracking poll today is showing the race within 2 points with governor romney in the lead over the president 49% to 47%. is there any other significant news? >> that pretty much where it's been. 48% now expect president obama to win the election. 41% governor romney. that's the first time the number expecting the president to win has fallen below 50%. it's the closest we have been in terms of perception. i think that reflects all the discussion. the fact the obama campaign is spending time and resources in pennsylvania and minnesota suggests that maybe things aren't going quite as well as people once thought just a couple weeks ago.

megyn: the campaigns don't just watch who you plan to vote for. they watch who do you think is going to win because the people who people think is going to win sometimes people in the middle decide to get behind that person because they want to back the winner. >> i think in this case people are pretty well decided on who they are going to vote for. there is only a couple percent who aren't committed one way other other. but the question is who is going to show up and vote. especially with this storm on the east coast. you know, the enthusiasm has been with the republicans throughout the election. er in more excited about getting out and voting. that could help the romney campaign. the democrats are counting on a strong organizational effort to overcome that. but we are seeing slippage in terms of the favorability ratings of the president. we are seeing slippage in the expectation of inof iability tha -- expectation ofinevitabil.

megyn: americans go to the polls in one week. can you believe that? and today we get a surprising new political theory about how the vote could go. that's next. plus a u.s. congressman confirming that his house was one of the 80 or so that burned down in a new york neighborhood. this area in queens. it's just awful. trace has the late-breaking developments on that in a moment. the helicopters are up over the state of new jersey writs's hard to put into words the extent of the losses. new pictures, new problems just ahead. >> we pretty much lost everything. our cars are totaled. the flooding started at 12:00 midnight. >> the basement is flood our cars are ruined. it's just horrible. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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megyn: we are getting reports of

partial shutdowns at two nuclear plants. indian point was shut down monday because of external grid issues. at the salem plants in new jersey near wilmington, delaware officials shut down four of six water pulls used on the non-nuclear side of the plants. the plants and the affected area are safe. we are keeping a close eye on the progress of this storm but we are also taking a look at an interesting political theory suggesting instead of a wave election on tuesday we could see an undertow one week from today. a wave election is what you see when a significant momentum for one canadian keeps building and building. but an undertow election would be a significant shift in the

electorate and an erosion of support from the base. some are questioning whether that could happen tuesday. larry sabato, the director of the center for politics at university of virginia. in an undertow election the candidate is assuming the base turned out and winds up sorely disappointed. the base doesn't show up to vote for him whether it's obama's or romneys. are we likely to see that? >> we are not likely to see it but we are a week out. i learned never to reject any theory a week pout because it would be a failure of imagination tuesday potentially. megyn: if one of the candidates is likely to see that, which one is it? >> it would be obama. no question about that. the momentum theory is falling apart. it's not there in data. i'm data driven and data led. that may be one of my problems. but there is nothing in the data

that suggests that the momentum that governor romney had after october 3 is continuing to build. now, he's maintained some of the moan men actual gains he achieved. but we are pretty much at stasis. we have the candidates really close. romney is up a point in the real clear politics average. scott last miewns has romney up 2. but by and large it's in the same place. megyn: what's been amazing to me, mitt romney was all but left for dead prior to that first debate. he changed that this election with that first debate. he caught up to the president and now they are dead even in so many polls. now even the state of ohio that's true which we hadn't seen romney lead in ohio at all. now we see rasmussen putting him up in ohio. how does that play historically when you have an election this

close, how does that play tuesday? is it about ground game or those late deciders that go into the polling box and decide incumbent or challenger? >> it's really all about both. look, on the late deciding, two things. first we don't have many on the left. i wondered how any people could be decide. megyn: people who don't like the choices. they decide when they are in the polling place. that's what i believe. >> i met some of them. when i question them about their views they are almost always fiscal conservatives and social issued libertarians therefore they feel like they don't fit in either party. but they have to make a choice even if the choice is not to vote or skip the presidential race. 1% of the people go into the polls and skip the presidential contest.

they vote for shaffer or congress but they don't vote for president. megyn: how is a storm likely to play. most of the folks affected by this storm on the east coast, not a lot of swing states affected by sandy. but even ohio is getting affected to some extents. pennsylvania, though i don't know if we are culling that a swing state. >> i'm not calling it a swing state but it may turn into one. new hampshire would be included as well. given the damage reports i'm seeing unfortunately, poor new york and poor new jersey. i don't think the damage has been massive in virginia or new hampshire. so we are not look at swing states sustaining the damage. the when is how does obama look coming out of this. only one hand he's the incumbent who looks presidential. he's dealing with an above the fray problem. he's doing this day job. that's an ideal position for the

president. on the other hand he will be responsible for whatever the government doesn't do. by the weekend, one can easily imagine people complaining about their power not being on and other things not being done. so you get the good with the bad if you are the incumbent. if you are the challenger you benefit from the bad. megyn: there was an article on real clear politics.com talking about how people will hold it against the incumbent president if it's a rainy day when they go to vote. it puts them in a d bour -- putm in a dour mood. >> you don't want voters to be in a surly mood because they generally vote against incumbents if they are down. megyn: governor romney stepped in front of the cameras to address the storm.

we'll bring you his remarks in moments. william lajeunesse mentioned the story of the tunnel to brooklyn. an almost 2-mile tube filled with water that needs to go somewhere else.

megyn: the video is coming in from the air and space museum where the storm left a mark on the space shuttle enterprise. the shuttle has only been on display for a couple months. the protective bubble covering it has deflated. there appears to be some doojt shuttle's tail. a few miles a way fire and water

left entire blocks devastated in one borough of new york city as a raging fire tore through tightly packed homes in queens. chest-high water flooded the streets, preventing firefighters from getting in to help. it looks like something out of hell. >> it does, megyn. many firefighters had to get outside those boats and were in waist to chest-high water. imagine trying to carry the fire hoses through all that. the homes first flooded then they caught fire and that's after many of these firefighters were trapped inside their own firehouse because of the high waters. these homes are about 3-4 feet off the ground to protect against high water. clearly it did not work in this

case. like most beach communities the houses are tightly packed together which is why they were engulfed so quickly. the firefighters began by trying to put out fires and they ended by just trying to stop the next home from catching fire. >> it's been a very, very upsetting situation for for my friends' lives than our house. the lives are worth any of the property. >> reporter: rob can congressman robert turner is among those who lost his home. turner took over during a special election or after a special election, the seat that was once filled by democratic congressman anthony weiner. turner released a statement saying i along with many other breezy point residents lost our homes last night and i'm grateful my family and i are safe after this destructive storm. i hope you will join me in

lending a hand to those who are less fortunate and keep everyone impacted in this storm in our thoughts and prayers. it was hit by a rare tornado last month. it lost a lot of power during that. another round of something that was have much unforeseen in this part of new york. megyn: is it true that no one was killed in the breezy points fires? >> reporter: not that we know of. if you look at these pictures. you also have to keep in mind the helicopters had just gone the up and you have got people going through these areas. this is early in the game. it's been 9 and a half, 10 hours since that fire started and they are still putting out pockets of hot areas. >> how can that be that the death toll is nonexistent or so low? do we know anything about how the fire first started and

whether the folks had warning to get out? >> reporter: one firefighter is speculating because of the floodwaters you have electricity that's hot and because of the hot electricity all it takes is one spark. and because the homes are so tightly pac -- tightly packed together in a peach community. many of these people had left their homes. that the fortunate thing that they weren't in their homes when this thing went up. megyn: i can't imagine losing all our property, your photos. your kids' stuff. at end of the day you are alive, your family is alive. that's what matters. trace, thank you. there are new questions about how this storm could affect the presidential election. two campaign pros will join us next with their perspective. we just got new rescue video

from the town of little river, new jersey. these scenes are happening in realtime as we are on the air. as the news comes in we'll get it to you. "america live" back in three minutes. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico, see how much you could save.

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eastern section of the resort town of its pier is completely gone, swept away in the violent storm surge. yesterday steve harrigan warned this could happen. >> the wind is pick up with gusts up to 45 miles an hour and the rain is heady as well. the rain sometimes up to 1 inch every two hours. you can look out at this beach. it's coming up to the seawall sometimes topping over the seawall. the waves have gotten bigger, too. it's throwing sands on the boardwalk and some of the destruction beginning, some of these fences knocked down, water beginning to seep into building. iconic pier has been partially destroyed. megyn: steve, how bad is it down there. >> reporter: the water is still rising in chrisfield and rescue operations have been going on throughout the day.

we followed some first responders and the people they were rescuing. ma'am, how are you doing? how was the storm? >> the storm was terrible. >> reporter: were you scared? >> more scared for the baby than me. we have been awake since 1:00 yesterday. >> reporter: it was amazing to see the firefighters carry out children through the water to safety. some people are deciding to ride it out. julie, why are you still here? how are things going up there? she says she has no cell phone, no power, no heat. she has been inside since monday and it will probably be three for our more days before she gets cell phone and heat and

electric power. megyn: they have been saying you can bring your pets to the shelters. we heard that exception being made so much but the word clearly did not get out. other news for you now. as we watch the storm story play out. we also watch the candidates. and governor romney appeared today in ohio to help collect donations for storm relief. he encouraged americans to pitch in and the effort to help the storm victims. >> thank you for being here this morning and helping out. appreciate that have much. we have heavy hearts with all the suffering going on in a major parts of our country. a lot of people hurting this morning. they were hurting last night and the storm goes on. i have had the chance to speak with some of the governors in the affected areas and they

talked about a lot of people having hard times. i appreciate the fact that people right here at dayton got this morning, some went to the grocery i store i see and purchased some things the families will need and i appreciate your generosity. it's part of the american spirit, the american way to give to people who are in need. and your generosity this morning touches my heart and i appreciate what you have done. we have a lot of goods here and i know there is more coming in. we'll box these things up in just a minute and put them on some trucks and then send them into i think it's new jersey is a site we identified that can take these goods and distribute to the people who who need them. we won't be able to solve all the problems with our effort. a lot of people will still be looking for goods even though we gathered these things. but i know that one of the things i learned in life is that you make the difference you can. and you can't always solve all the problems yourself.

but you can make the difference in the life of one or two people. as a result of one or two people making an effort. megyn: ed rollins, fox news contributor. he cause wham pain director for the reagan-bush ticket. and sue soon estrich who is a professor of law at usc and she is the former manager of michael dukakis' presidential cam pain. it's interesting to hear mitt romney call people to action to help the storm victims. one might be inclined to say that's a political move because it's a political candidate. but, ed, he has a long history of trying to help people in need and there is a question about whether an event like this really does bring us all together, whether you are a democrat or republican. >> it should bring us together we are we are all americans.

i thought that was one of the better commentaries of him that i have seen in a long long time. it's hard to depict him as axlerod and the president and others have tried to do when you see him there. he has a long history of volunteerism, a long history of donating lots of money and being a church leader. it's a good point. in this campaign i think it gets frozen. we are not going to talk about politic the next three or for you days. i don't think anybody necessarily gains an advantage and we'll have to wait and see. megyn: if it's frozen, how frustrating is it? they don't want it to be frozen, do they? >> i couldn't agree withette more. i have got a daughter in the storm area. when you have got family and loved ones in that area you are not thinking republican or democrat, you are thinking are they getting helicopter they need and are we all pulling together. the president is being

president. and that's what he should be doing and he's got people like governor chris christie who has been very critical of the president saying the president has been all over this one and he deserves credit. i think the president is doing what he should be doing right now and it's a delicate situation for mitt romney. if he looks too political people will criticize him. i'm sure there will be plenty of liberals pointing fingers saying, he wanted to help. he went to ohio to send things to new jersey. by unless a tough spot. this is a time when public officials get to be public officials and candidates have to tread lightly. megyn: do you think people will criticize mitt romney for trying to get people to help. >> i think susan and i agree on many things. the critical thing is you can't look political. even the president who is the commander-in-chief who has an

important role. the governors are out front and they are on the line, governors, mayors, and you have to be careful. you can't run around now and go to these states, these hotpots and bring air force one and the entourage in because you will be taking police and fire and first responders away. equally as important is trying to get crowds in the clothing part of the campaign is a big task. my sense is they have to do what they have to do the next three or four days. we'll get through this. we have the weekend and the next few days. we have run a long campaign and people have made up their mind where they are. megyn: susan, he said that this storm will have the effect of freezing negative campaign ads because you can't be running those in states hit by devastation. they don't want to hear that kind of tone. do you agree with that? >> i think that's true?

a state that's hit. you are in a state that's been hit you don't want to hear with politics. you want to about the roads and cell service and water. i think for areas outside the storm zone you will see negative ads, you will not see the president on air force one. megyn: we just did a story yesterday about how some left-leaning groups just bought some ad time in the critical swing states -- i don't remember the list off the top of my head. i assume it would include north carolina and new ham she shire calling mitt romney an economic traitor. can they run those ads where you have mitt romney encouraging folks to help the people in those states. >> i think you waste your money. you can turn ads around very quickly. would i make them about

volunteerism. it would be about anything and it's a good way to have a different message that makes people pay attention to the message. the problem is when you are wall to wall in 22 states with some kind of disaster here you are not going to pay a whole lot of attention to a political ad that's too crude and too harsh. megyn: susan, does this dampen turnout tuesday and if so who does that hurt? >> who knows. i'm with ed on this. it's hopefully by tuesday people will have electricity and power and then it's their choice. it will be on the back burner the next few days. in a funny way as ed points out, the focus of the campaigns have to be on the ground game, not on big rallies. >> people who want to vote will vote and the campaigns have tremendous resources on both sides and they will get their vote out. i don't worry about that.

megyn: thank you, all the best. coming up new jersey chris christie calling the damage in his state unthinkable. we'll speak with the office of emergency management. [ male announcer ] kids grow up in no time...

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custom emails that drive business. it's just one of the ways constant contact can help you grow your small business. sign up for your free trial today at constantcontact.com/try. megyn: this monster storm hitting west virginia with blizzard conditions. it's incredible when you look at fires, and the snow, and the flooding. beckley, west virginia. it's not suppose to be snowing this time of year. nearly quarter million people without power and eight shelters are open for folks who need them. superstorm sandy is leaving this tanker strand on nornlings staten island. look at the picture. it looks like something out of a movie. the massive storm ripping this

180-foot ship a mile from its moorings is something to behold. luckily it was not carrying any oil at the time. but the storm destroying many waterfront businesses in the area. we got there is video of people being evacuated from the flooding in the town of little river, new jersey. countless streets buried unsheets of water. widespread power outages reported. governor christie saying the devastation to the jersey shore is unthinkable and could take weeks to clean up. the director of emergency management is joining us. how bad is it? >> i think the governor's remarks are on point. it is unthinkable. megyn: what is the worst? the flooding? >> the storm surge that

contributed to the flooding. mainly along the entire eastern portion of the state. and we have seen flooding in this storm where we have not seen it in many, many, many years. megyn: talk to us about the jersey shore which was so hard hit. we heard that in long beach island the ocean was basically running count only main road of town. and we heard in seaside heights, new jersey that the roller-coaster is in the ocean. >> the governor remarked on that this morning. there are home that have been lifted off their foundation. some of the popular tourist areas that we see and love have been impacted greatly. there was a flyover this afternoon, and we are here with fema on the ground and working in partnership to try to start the recovery. megyn: not only do you have so many people in their homes devastated. but now we hear that the path

train, the knowledge path train that so many people use to commute to their jobs will be us spend for 7-10 days. are you encouraging people to stay at home and skip work the next few days? >> we are encouraging people to pay attention to media reports. the infrastructure in terms of transportation has been greatly impacted. the public transportation as well as even local roadways. megyn: it doesn't look inviting or something you want to go out in. folks need to earn a living. mary, all the best to you. >> thank you, megyn. megyn: new york and new jersey really took a beating and connecticut as well. 21 states already affected plus washington, d.c. and more still in sandy's path. our coverage of the monster storm continues from arlington,

virginia where trees and power lines are down. power is out for tens of thousands of people. this arlington outside the nation's capital. amtrak is suspend.

megyn: president obama speaking at the red cross headquarters. we want to get to him right now. >> the red cross is doing outstanding work internationally. a few things i want to emphasize to the public at the top. this storm is not yet over. we have gone the briefings from the national hurricane center it many still moving north. there are still communities that could be affected so i want to emphasize there is still a risk of flooding and down under power

lines. risks of high winds and so it is very important for the public to continue to monitor the situation in your local community, listen to your state and local officials, follow instructions. the more you follow instructions the easier it is for our first responders to make sure that they are dealing with true emergency situations. better prepared individual families are for the situation, the easier it will be for to us deal with. next obviously i want to talk about the extraordinary hardship we have seen over the last 48 hours. our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families who have lost loved ones. unfortunately there have been fatalities as a consequence of hurricane sandy. it's not clear that we counts up all the fat alternates at this point. obviously this is something that is heartbreak for the entire nation. we certainly feel profoundly for

all the families whose lives have been upended and are going to be going through tough times over the next several days. perhaps several weeks and months. the most important message i have for them is that america is with you. we are standing behind you and we are going to do everything we can to help you get back on your feet. earlier today i had a conversation with the governors and many of the mayors in the affected areas including governor christie, governor como and mayor bloomberg. i want to braise them for the extraordinary work they have done. sadly we are getting more experience with these kinds of big impact storms along the east coast, and the preparation shows. shows. were it not for the outstanding work they and their teams have

already done and will continue to do from the affected regions we could have seen more deaths and more property damage. so they have done extraordinary work working around the clock. the coordination between the state, local and federal government has been outstanding. obviously we are now moving into the recovery phase in a lot of the most severely affected areas. new jersey, new york in particular have been pounded by this storm. connecticut has take and big hit. because of some of the work that has been done ahead of time we have been able to get over 1,000 fema officials in place, prepositioned. we have been able to get supplies, food, medicine, water, emergency generators to insure that hospitals and law enforcement offices are able to stay up and running as they are responding. we'll continue to push as hard as we can to make sure that

power is up throughout the region and obviously this is mostly a local responsibility, and the private utilities are going to have to lean forward. but we are doing everything we can to provide them additional resources so we can expedite getting power up and running in many of these communities. in newark, new jersey you have 80% to 90% of the people without power. we can't have a situation where that lasts for days on end. my instructions to the federal agencies has been do not figure out why we can't do something, i want you to figure out how we do something. i want you to cut through red tape and bureaucracy. there is no excuse for inaction. i want every agency to lean forward to make sure we are getting the resources where they are needed as quickly as

possible. i want to repeat. my message to the federal government, no bureaucracy, no red tape, get resources where they are needed as fast as possible and for the duration. because recovery process obviously in a place like new jersey is going to take a significant amount of time. the recovery process in the lower manhattan will take a lot of time. part of what we are trying to do here is to see where some resources that can be brought to bear that maybe traditionally are not used in these disaster situations. there may be military assets that allow to us help move equipment to insure that pumping, getting the flooding out of the new york subway systems can proceed more quickly. there may be resources we can bring to bear to help some of the private utilities get their personnel and equipment in place for swiftly so we can get power